Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ok your buddy calls and says I want to buy a new rifle

I am not a gunsmith or even a gun nut. But I have been hunting for sixty years. I look for accuracy and durability in a rifle. So, any rifle that I buy is American made and it is guaranteed by the manufacturer to shoot MOA out of the box. I prefer synthetic stocks because they are ugly to begin with and you can beat them up and you don't care about looks. All Weatherby rifles meet that requirement and the Vanguard Synthetic is affordable.

I prefer classic calibers that have proven their value by remaining popular for decades. For deer hunting in PA, .270 will do just fine but 30-06 will be more versatile.

Leupold gold rings scopes are IMHO the best value in scopes. You can pay less but you will get less. You can pay more but you can't buy a better scope at any price.

In a Savage or Ruger American for the value part.

If he already shoots an American, then that's the platform.

So, 270, 308, 30-06.

Pick one.

If he's not a gun guy, wants to keep it cheap, that's the ticket.
No sense changing guns, and those calibers are top shelf for his use.
Why not go tried and true, and with something that's normally available
everywhere. And sold at the cheapest prices during the pre season ammo
sales.

Weatherby Vanguard is a Japanese Howa. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not American made.

RAR in 308 and a bushnell 3200 3-9x40. basic and highly effective

I have and use exactly this ^ entire package was $500.
Cheap, effective and accurate with about any 150gr. econo-ammo I feed it. (Hornady whitetail 150 IL load shoots tiny groups and flattens deer)
Plus he already has a RAR. Familiarity is a good thing.

You should tell him to join this group and use our rifle sub-forum to ask rifle questions.

Tikka.

The Ruger American , 308 will get done whatever he needs .
Accurate , acceptable trigger , plenty of punch .
I like the compact gives up nothing but weight .
Kenneth

Tikka 308 though I would personally choose 7-08

Tikka makes a compact too. I just set one up in 6.5 Creedmoor to fiddle with. 20” bbl weighs in an ounce or 2 under 7lbs. Hoping it makes a nice little woods gun.

Great info guys Thanks you


Most of it not too far from my thoughts

Hank

Nothing wrong with a new rifle but if he isn't a gun nut then what's wrong with his 450?

Truth ^^

I don't know the 450 BM, but if he sights it in 3" high at 100 yds, how far out does it cross zero again? How far is it until it is 3" low?

Probably as far as a new hunter should be shooting at game anyway.

YMMV

Not a .450BM guy, but I do shoot the .458 SOCOM... pretty much identical math.

Would I shoot a dear at 300?

Hell yeah...

Might even push 400 if I was feeling luck on holdover.

As for a "Normal gun"... Get a .308 or .30-06 and 2-10 glass... whatever your budget can afford. Ruger American to a Tikka... as for glass... ask Doug... he has never let me down.

30/06 or 308
Remington pump for hunting in Pa

Well first and foremost... there's no deer in PA... just follow along a couple PA forum threads.

The hunters here mostly piss and moan about how few deer there are so stay home and save your $.

Now that I got that out of my system...

Any basic 7mm08 is a great choice.
As is 243, 30-06, 270, 280...

Any old savage, tc, or Ruger American will do just fine..

Good luck

Thompson Center Compass or Venture or CVA Cascade would be my first choices. All have synthetic stocks, good triggers, are hunting accurate and are chambered in many good deer hunting cartridges. If he doesn’t mine the 450BM then he could shoot any of the chamberings in these rifles.

He may want to see what ammo is available too and then buy a gun to go with it. Best way to decide though is to handle a lot of rifles and then buy the one he wants to keep handling. Some will just feel right and its the gun he’ll have to have. That’s what the CVA Cascades and TC Venture are to me.